Back In Time
by See Through You
Summary: Addie, youngest daughter of Arwen and Aragorn is thrown back in time to the day before the fellowship enters the Golden wood. She has grown up hearing stories about the War of the Ring but can she survive it? And how exactly does one deal with traveling with your future father?
1. Chapter 1

Many know the story of my father and how he became king; and of course the part he played in the War of the Ring. They know he is a great swordsman and leader, they know he is married to Arwen and has five children. But they don't know _him, _not like I do. Of course these thoughts were the farthest from my mind as I struggled to keep up a defense while also being able to land a blow using my twin swords. My father certainly hasn't slowed down a bit, he was still as ruthless at swordplay as ever. But then again he is highly motivated; he wants to make sure I know how to defend myself in high stress situations, there was absolutely no coddling when it came to my training. I can't even begin to count how many bruises and cuts I had received over the years.

Hah, there! Quickly I pressed my advantage and drove him back raining continues blows. This is not to say he didn't fight back, he did and hard but I was determined to beat him this time. And I have often been told often that my stubbornness is my greatest strength and my biggest downfall; depending on who you asked. My brother had also told me once that to beat dad you needed three things: uncommonly good skill with a blade, an iron will, and quite a bit of luck. I usually had two of the three but today was different. His foot slid a little on a rock which caused a very brief distraction, it was now or never. I went for it, managing to catch his sword against mine and trap it against his body while my other sword tip hovered at his throat for a few seconds before I let it fall.

He grinned and hugged me, sweaty clothes and all. "Addie, well done! Though you still need to work on your patience, you tend to jump right in and rely on your speed to compensate."

I rolled my eyes after he released me from the hug. "I know dad, I'm working on it. I'm much better at waiting for the right moment than when I first started you have to admit." I sheathed my swords and then wiped a few pieces of dark brown hair that had managed to escape my braid away from my face. I couldn't keep the grin off my face as I replayed every moment of the fight, especially the end. I couldn't wait to crow about it to my brother. But first I wanted a bath, and new clothes, oh and food, food sounded good. Bath first, then food. With a cheerful "Bye dad, see you at dinner." I headed off to my rooms to do just that.

I was humming quietly to myself and the hallway I was in was causing the sound to echo. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice that my surroundings had changed until the sound abruptly stopped bouncing off the stone walls. I paused in confusion. Colors started to blur together and I got the sense that I was traveling but I myself was standing still. Kind of like when I was at the beach and stood in the waves and was pushed sideways. My hands inched up towards the hilts of my swords strapped to my back. What was going on?

The scene came into focus again. I was not in Minas Tirith that was for sure. For one, I was standing on wood not stone and seemed to be in a forest. I drew my swords while I walked to the edge of the platform that I appeared to be on. I peered over the edge and only one place came to mind, Lothlórien, former home of my great-grandmother and great-grandfather. My grip relaxed slightly on my swords but not completely, you never know. I took a couple of steps back from the edge still trying to process how exactly I had traveled from Minas Tirith to Lothlórien of all places.

"_Welcome child, I have been expecting you."_

I spun around in surprise with my swords raised in a defensive position, recognizing the language as Sindarian to stare into the face of a female elf with blonde hair and pale blue eyes dressed all in white. Galadriel?

"_There is no need for that Addie, you are safe here."_ She slowly walked towards me as I sheathed my swords.

"_And yes, I am Galadriel."_

How did she… oh right mind reader.

"_How are you here? You sailed to Valinor before my birth? And how… why… am I here?"_

"_You have traveled back to the time of the fellowship; even now they journey from the Mines of Moria, they should be here by tomorrow."_ She seemed to be examining me and I fought the urge to squirm. I felt very underdressed in my practice clothes, a dark brown tunic over trousers and boots. And of course there was my hair in all its sweaty glory. One of her hands closed the gap between us as she gripped my chin forcing me to lift it up a few inches to meet her gaze with my own. My green eyes met hers stare for stare. I was slightly in awe. I had heard so many stories from my mother and father about her. My mother had spent many years here after all and it had been here that my parents became betrothed.

She dropped her hand from my chin and a slow smile appeared on her face.

"_You didn't exactly answer my earlier question, why am I here?"_

"_You have a part to play in all of this, learning from childhood the events that are about to take place is certainly a part of it but not all." _I raised an eyebrow in response, still not very specific. Her smile seemed to grow as she continued on. "_Addie, you were sent for many reasons, one of them to bring the Fellowship hope, especially to your father. One of his driving reasons to become King of Gondor is Arwen. Once he learns of you it will motivate him more to end the war that is coming."_

"_So you're going to tell him that his daughter was sent from the future to what, give him hope? That doesn't exactly sound like a good enough reason to me."_

"_As well as provide knowledge of coming events. It will give them comfort to know of Sam and Frodo when they go their separate ways. But be careful, you can change little things, but if you prevent the death of Boromir it will throw things out of balance and stop things from happening as they should." _I shifted in place while I thought this over. It would be extremely hard to know what was going to happen and to not blurt it out or prevent deaths. And then something else occurred to me.

"_But doesn't me being here, won't that change things? In all the stories I have been told there was no mention of a woman traveling with the Fellowship."_

_ "Anyone that was not in the fellowship will not remember your presence here and they have been very careful to not let anything slip when they told you those stories."_

I frowned a little. It was a true there were many times when I knew for certain that I wasn't being told the full story. I had written it off as my father not wanting to tell me all the details of gore and violence that he had seen but it made sense in a way. All that times that he would look at me thoughtfully and especially recently, ever since my nineteenth birthday, on the verge of saying something but he stopped himself every time.

_. "It is getting late and you will need your sleep, and a bath, and weren't you thinking of food earlier? I will tell Aragorn of your presence here and who you are when he arrives tomorrow."_

A bath sounded absolutely wonderful as did food but I mentioned that earlier didn't I? _"Are you going to tell the rest who I really am or make something up?" _

_ "I will not tell them, not yet. I will come up with a reason for your presence here and your subsequent traveling with them. You must tell them who you are when the Fellowship breaks but not until then. It would have disastrous consequences if you tell them too soon. Boromir is a good man at heart but the darkness of the ring has been corrupting him. If he learned who you truly are he would demand answers about the future from you and would not stop. He would try to kill you and would wound you. His death then would be at the hand of your father and not at orcs. He would not regain his honor and his death would be devastating for the moral of the fellowship and would weigh heavily on Aragorn's conscience. This is why you must not tell until the right moment."_

"_I understand." _My answer was subdued.

She turned and I followed after her as she led me to where I was to bathe and sleep. She left me there and I remained standing trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. I walked over to the bath that she had shown me and began to strip and got in. Bliss, utter bliss. I undid my braid and shook out my hair before I dunked my head under the water. Some time later I got out and found a towel and a dress laid out for me. I dried off and slipped into the sapphire blue dress. I sat down on the nearby bed with a thump while trying to figure out where I could find a comb and how I could get some food.

Galadriel entered again carrying a tray of food that she set down on a nearby table. I perked up and sat down on a chair. One thought was buzzing around my head, why was she bringing me food and not a servant?

"_I want to get to know you better __Ancalimë."_ I winced at the use of my given name.

"_Well you can start by continuing to call me Addie, everybody does except on very formal occasions.__Ancalimë is a bit of a mouthful." _She nodded thoughtfully.

"_I am curious how you got Addie from Ancalimë." _

"_Family legend has it that my sister couldn't pronounce Ancalimë and what came out sounded like 'Addie' it caught on and most everybody calls me by it now. I'm used to it."_ I eyed the food for a moment before I dug in. a training session with dad usually had me devouring platefuls of food. I also tended to guzzle a lot of water afterwards. After I had finished I turned to see Galadriel watching me quietly. She produced a comb from somewhere and I reached out to take it from her. She drew her hand back for a moment.

"_Let me, it has been many years since I have been able to comb my daughter's hair."_

I shrugged and turned around to give her better access to my hair and folded my hands in my lap. It was soothing, having her do this. I was almost lulled to sleep by the gentle tugging on my hair. Almost but not quite. She finished and handed me the wooden comb.

"_It is yours to keep. I expect that you will want it on your travels." _I thanked her and she left which was a good thing because by this point I was so tired I was barely able to think. Apparently going back in time tends to do that to a person, who would've thought?

I crawled into bed and tried to figure out how I was going to address my father. Aragorn? That didn't sound right. As did calling him Estel or Elessar. I had to figure it out pretty soon though. I lay there twisting my hands together as I thought more of what traveling with the Fellowship meant. Constant battle, not many chances to bathe, and Rohan. I was not looking forward to the three days of running that were going to happen then. I considered myself to be in good shape but three days straight of running. I shuddered at the thought. I put it out of my mind for now and tried to focus on other things. It didn't work. Three days of running continued to go through my head…

**A/N Addie's story just popped into my head one day and wouldn't leave. I searched for her name but found out that Tolkien didn't give her a name or specify how many sisters she had. And thus began the hunt for a proper sounding name. I ended up giving her the name of the first Queen of the ****Númenóreans.**** I am not even going to try to translate elivish, I know I would mangle the grammar terribly so any elvish spoken is going to be in italics but you probably already figured that out didn't you. Please review and tell me what you think! And now I am going to end my super long rambly author's note.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Guys, thank you so much! I already have five followers and two reviews, this makes me very happy. Shout out to Maria (Guest). She made some very good points that led to some edits. I'm much happier with this chapter now because of her advice. Thank you! Now I would love to know if there is anything specific that you would like to see happen or any other suggestions in general. It really helps me.**

I pulled the blankets over my head in a vain effort to block out the sunlight that was shining across my eyes but soon gave up because it became stuffy. With a huff I threw the covers off myself and stumbled out of bed. I looked around in confusion before my brain put the pieces together. Travelled back in time, meeting with my future father today, right. I grimaced before I stretched out my sore muscles from yesterday's training session, and then padded out of the bedroom to search for clothes and breakfast. I found another dress, this time violet, draped over the back of a chair, and my training outfit folded neatly beside it. I noticed it had been washed too, as I ran my fingers over the tunic lightly.

I took the dress and headed back to the bedroom to change. Surprisingly, this one was much easier to get into then the dresses I had back at Minas Tirith. It was also much lighter, though I could do without the trailing sleeves. I didn't see any other shoes so I went barefoot, much like I do at home; the dress was long enough that it covered my feet. I left my hair down and finally ventured outside in search of food. I quickly became hopelessly lost. I stopped and let out a groan of frustration.

"_There you are. Galadriel sent me to retrieve you." _

I jumped a little in surprise before I turned around to face the voice. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"_I am Celeborn. She said that you would be hungry, especially since you missed breakfast. It seems that time travelling is more tiring than we thought." _Great-grandfather, of course.

"_I can't believe that I slept that long." _I muttered as I followed him.

"_Your body needed the rest." _

We walked the rest of the way in silence, ending up in a small room. On the table a meal was laid out.

"_My wife and I eat here when we wish to have privacy. Please, have a seat."_

I sat down, already looking forward to the meal. Galadriel entered through the doorway and we began. It was quiet, I was preoccupied with eating and Galadriel and Celeborn seemed to be in no hurry to fill the silence. Absentmindedly I pushed the remaining food around on my plate. It was still a lot to process; I had really gone back in time. But the proof was literally right in front of me. I let my fork drop and looked up to meet the gaze of Galadriel.

"_The fellowship has entered the wood, they will be here in less than an hour."_

"_I don't even really know what to say, or how to act. I haven't even decided what to call him."_

"_Follow your instincts Addie, they will guide you through your journey."_

Well that was cryptic and of almost no help. I excused myself and went back to my room; Celeborn had showed me the way back earlier, to gather my thoughts.

I paced back and forth across the floor; the waiting was killing me. Time really is relative, I had never had an hour last that long before. I went through my mental timeline of the stories that I had been told. I knew that we would be staying in Lothlórien for about two weeks and then we would take boats down the Anduin river and that Boromir would die shortly after. Then the fellowship would break and, of course, came the three days of running which led to all that happened in Rohan. After that, things moved pretty quickly.

"_Addie, it is time. You will meet with your father separately after I speak to the fellowship. You must not tell him that Gandalf is alive, do you understand?"_

I nodded my agreement and followed after Galadriel. I was too busy trying to calm myself down to notice many details about the scenery.

"_Wait here Addie, I will bring him to you." _I acknowledged her somehow and then she was gone, leaving me to even more waiting. I waited a few minutes before walking over to the edge with my arms folded, looking out over the forest. It really was beautiful in its own way, I suppose. I took several deep breaths to focus. Somehow it was all going to be okay, I just needed to keep reminding myself that.

"She is in there Aragorn."

I turned around at her voice. Then I heard hesitant footsteps. My arms dropped to my sides as he rounded the corner. He looked so tired and there was a sadness in his eyes that I had rarely seen before. Of course, Gandalf had just died in Moria and he didn't know that he would come back.

I took a few steps forward to meet him halfway and there we stood, a few feet apart from each other. He was doing much the same as Galadriel had earlier, studying me. I did the same to him. He looked younger, which was understandable since he was thirty-five years younger than in my time. His clothes looked dirty and travel worn, also understandable. I took another step closer and then stopped. It was weird, very weird, and slightly awkward as well. I decided to break the silence.

"Hello." I know, original. But what else was I supposed to say?

"Hello." A small tired smile had found its way to his face. "So you are my daughter."

"I am." I said slowly. "Did Galadriel tell you anything else about me?

"Only that you are from the future and that your name is Addie."

"I appeared here yesterday, and the majority of my time was spent sleeping. Time traveling takes a lot out of you apparently." I paused to look at him. It had always been difficult to read my father's emotions and I was having a harder time than usual. "It's strange, isn't it? At least I've had a little bit more time to prepare myself for all the good it did me."

"You're nervous?"

"Unbelievably so." Was my prompt reply. "It's always been a habit of mine to talk too much when I get nervous so if I ramble on that's why."

"It's fine and you're not rambling. But I am curious, why are you here?"

"Galadriel told me that I am meant to continue on with the fellowship which is why I have been called back through time." I watched as a myriad of expressions that I could actually read crossed his face at my statement. Confusion, uncertainty, protectiveness and flashes of others.

"Why you?"

"I don't know why I was chosen out of my siblings but I do know how to defend myself and track. You made sure of that. I'll be able to keep up, you needn't worry."

"How proficient are you?"

"Proficient enough to beat you, once." His eyebrows went up at that.

"You beat me?" This was said in such a tone of disbelief that I felt mildly offended.

"Yes, I beat you though to be fair if you hadn't slipped on that rock when you did I wouldn't have, I'm very proud. I was going to go brag about it to my brother but that didn't work out." I muttered.

"You have a brother? Older or younger?"

I eyed him before responding. "I'm the youngest of my siblings. I don't think it's a good idea for me to tell you too many details about the future. I don't want to screw it up and never be born." I linked my hands together behind my back as he continued to look intently at me and then he seemed to be looking through me.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot uncomfortably as the silence stretched on.

"Are you alright?" I asked tentatively.

He shook his head lightly. "Just tired." He said in a soft voice.

"Of course you are; you just went through Moria." I murmured.

His gaze flickered up to mine. "You know? Of course you know… I'm going to have to get used to that, aren't I?"

A smile flittered across my lips. "Most likely. Though I'll try to keep such comments to a minimum." Again another pause. "It would probably be a good idea if you went back to the Fellowship now before they start wondering what's taking so long." I suggested tentatively.

A quick smile flashed across his face. "That is a good idea. Will I see you at dinner?"

"If I can find the way. I don't know where anything is here."

"I'm sure the Lady Galadriel will show you."

"I'm sure she will. Oh, and remember that none of the fellowship can know that I am your daughter. Not yet anyway..."

"If I can't tell them who you really are then how am I going to explain your presence?"

I shrugged. "Galadriel said that she would come up with a reason. But for now don't tell them about me. Now if I can find my way back without getting lost…"

"Having trouble finding your way around?" He was amused.

"It's a little hard to when this forest looks almost exactly the same. I can't even use the sun to orient myself because the light is so strange here."

"I'm sure you'll be able to find your way around eventually."

"Your confidence in my abilities is astounding."

"I will see you later?"

"Yes." I answered dryly.

He walked away and then he stopped and looked back at me.

"Oh and Addie, tomorrow I want to see how good you are at swordplay."

"Ok. I'll bring my swords tomorrow."

"Plural? Ah, you fight with twin swords. That is unusual."

"Well I had to compensate somehow for my lack of archery skills."

This surprised him. "You're not very good?"

"Abysmal. That elvish trait seems to have not been passed down to me."

He stared thoughtfully at me before he nodded and walked away.

I wandered back to my room to think. It was one thing to talk to my future father when he was fully aware of who I am, but to meet the whole fellowship and have them not know? It was going to be hard, very hard. I sighed and collapsed onto a chair. This was going to be _fun_!


	3. Chapter 3

In hindsight, climbing a tree while wearing a dress wasn't exactly the smartest decision I had ever made. But I'm sure there had been worse ones made over the course of history. While I was thus musing about all the stupid decisions that others had made (my brother had a talent for making some truly spectacular ones in his boyhood), I was interrupted.

"Addie, what are you doing in a tree?" I looked down to see my dad watching me with amusement.

"It's a bit of a long story." I muttered from my perch.

"Why don't you tell it then?" He spoke as he too climbed up the tree to sit on a neighbouring branch.

"Well," I began. "I was bored and decided to go exploring. Somehow I ended up by a river; which by itself wasn't a bad thing. But this_ particular_ river seems to be where the ellyn go to wash their clothes." He was chuckling now, easily seeing where I was going with my story.

"As you can imagine I didn't exactly mean to be there. So I was slightly embarrassed and turned around and picked what I thought was the right direction. It wasn't apparently. So I climbed this tree to see if I could find any familiar landmarks; I got up here and realized that I was hopelessly lost. I had started to climb down when I realized that I had climbed a tree while wearing a dress and that this area seems to see a lot of heavy traffic at this time of day. I didn't think that far ahead when I originally decided to climb the tree which leaves me with a quite a dilemma. Any suggestions?" I asked dryly.

"Perhaps you should just climb down."

"And hope for the best?" I eyed the ground with consideration. "I wonder if I could jump down. I am less than twenty feet from the ground." I peered down, leaning my body forward slightly.

"I probably could." I added thoughtfully. I stood up on the branch to have better control of my jump.

"Addie, are you sure that is wise?" By the time he said that I was already in mid jump. I landed on the ground with the skirt of my dress bunched up in one hand by my knee to avoid flashing anyone passing below. The jump jarred my knees a little but I was otherwise unhurt.

My father was less than a minute behind me. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped. Looking at my bare feet with a puzzled expression he glanced back up at my face.

"No shoes were provided with the dress and I didn't want to wear my boots with them. Besides, I enjoy going barefoot." I released the fabric of my dress and it fell back around my legs.

He gave a nod of understanding before his expression became stern.

"You should be more careful, you could have easily twisted an ankle."

"I've jumped a similar difference before and been fine. Though, admittedly, I wasn't in a dress then." I shot him a small teasing smile. "Worrying about me already?"

"Of course. No matter how you came to be here you are still my daughter, and I will protect you." That last part was said with such determination and steel that I didn't doubt him. I was surprised that he was this protective of me already. He always had been in my time, but he knew me then; he had raised me and trained me.

I didn't say anything in reply. What could I say to that?

"I believe that you wanted to meet the rest of the fellowship?"

"Oh yes." I said with an eager smile. I was excited. I had heard so many stories about all of them, and I particularly wanted to meet Frodo and Sam. Frodo had sailed with Gandalf to Valinor long before my birth and the last time I had seen Sam was when I was a small child. Sam's bravery and determination to stay with Frodo had impressed me.

I was also slightly leery as well because I would be in close quarters with the Ring, something that I did not want. But everything had a price and this was a small one to pay to be able to meet the Fellowship.

"We have to hurry then before the hobbits eat all of the food."

"It never fails to amaze me how much food they can manage to consume; it's a wonder that it all fits."

He gave me a sideways glance. "Their appetites have not changed then?"

"Oh no." I paused. "How are you going to introduce me?"

"As a traveller passing through. I have discussed this with the Lady Galadriel."

We walked in silence for a few more minutes. "We are here. Prepare yourself."

I nodded in answer and then we were in a clearing. Food was already laid out and as expected the hobbits were consuming most of it. The mood was quiet, reflective. There was a melancholy atmosphere that hung about the group. Just on the edge of my hearing I could hear the sound of several elves singing. I paused slightly to make out the words, then I understood. A lament for Gandalf the Grey. I wished I could tell them that their mourning was pointless, that he would come back, but I knew I could not. I let out a small breath and continued on into the clearing behind my father. I was unnoticed at first before I began to get curious stares. The hobbits made no effort to hide them. The others were a little more subtle.

"This is Lady Addie, she is a traveller passing through. She was curious and wished to meet the hobbits as she has never seen one before."

Hmm, well that seemed plausible.

"Well my Lady, you are in luck. I'm Pipin and that's Merry." He spoke gesturing to another curly haired hobbit who sat to the left of him. "That over there is Frodo and the one right next to him is Sam." They gave me polite nods as I greeted then.

"Just Addie is fine, Lady Addie is a mouthful." I said with a smile in the general direction of all the hobbits. "I've heard about the Shire from others, but what is it really like?"

That seemed to be the question to ask. With matching grins they began to regale me with tales of the Shire. Frodo and Sam had edged closer as the stories had gone on so that we were sitting in a small circle. I had taken a seat soon after I had asked my question. Many of their stories had me laughing out loud. Slowly the conversation dwindled and the light seemed to be fading. I looked around and noticed that Legolas was staring at me with curiosity. Probably trying to figure out who exactly I was. Boromir was nowhere to be found and Gimli was at the other end of the clearing. I couldn't tell what he was doing.

"I should go back before it becomes too dark for me to see. I have a hard enough time finding my way around as it is." I stood up and gently shook my dress out a little.

"Come back anytime! Maybe next time you could tell us stories of your home?"

"Perhaps." I was a little startled by the light touch at my elbow. Dad.

"I will escort you back. It wouldn't do to have you wandering around in the dark."

"Thank you."

We walked in silence at first before my dad broke it.

"We should be out of range of Legolas' hearing by now." He fixed me with a direct look. "Tomorrow we will meet two hours after dawn. I want to see just how good you really are. Besides, you need to spar regularly anyway. The practice courts are very close by where you are staying." He stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "They are there." He said while pointing. "You think you can find your way there?"

I gave him a sideways glance. "My sense of direction is not that terrible. I'll be there." We stopped at the base of a tree. This one was much bigger than the tree that I had climbed earlier. I eyed the staircase with distaste but with a sigh began the climb. It was much easier to climb down than to go up. But I persevered and eventually got to the top. I made my way to my rooms to get ready for the night. Stepping through the doorway, I found another nightgown folded neatly on the foot of the bed. I changed, feeling much more comfortable. I settled into the bed with a quiet sigh.

Tomorrow was going to be very hard. I knew my father and knew that he would push me to my breaking point to see how much I could take. I knew that I was going to have bruises decorating my whole body and probably would acquire some scrapes and cuts. Tomorrow was not going to be fun. I drifted off to sleep wondering what my sisters were doing now…

**A/N Yay, another chapter! I am in the process of writing chapter four right now. This was really just a set up chapter so that the rest of the story makes sense. The pace will pick up soon I promise. On a completely unrelated note, snow blew off a tree and hit me in the eye. That has never happened to me before.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Contrary to popular belief I do in fact have a sense of direction. So I was already waiting at the practice courts when my father showed up. His gaze swept over my outfit but he made no comment, instead he led me over to a more private part of the courts.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes." And we began. If it was possible he seemed to be more ruthless than I was used to, but then again he was trying to assess my skill level. I had one advantage over him; I had fought against him my whole life. I was familiar with his style and knew to some extent what to expect. He didn't. I was able to catch him by surprise a few times, but I wasn't winning. I was only delaying the inevitable, but I was going to make sure that I made him pay for every inch that he gained on me. My focus narrowed as my body fell back on the movements that had been drummed into me since I was a child. Strike, block, turn, step out of the way, repeat; of course this was all going on at a whirlwind pace and my mind barely had anytime to dissect what was actually happening. I was simply… reacting, muscle memory taking over.

It was getting harder and harder to land any blows of my own and minutes later I was reduced to simply blocking or moving out of the way. I gritted my teeth in determination, I knew I could last longer than this. I dug in my heels and refused to give any more ground for several more minutes. I could not last forever, though. All too late, I realized that one of his movements was feint. I went to block his sword, but it was not there. Instead it rested just above my heart. Slowly I dropped my swords to my sides.

"I yield." I was not disappointed with myself, I had managed to last for a while and prove that I certainly wasn't defenceless. As I looked up into his eyes I saw that he was pleased as well. His sword point dropped and he gave me a single nod of approval.

"Again." And then it began all over. He was testing my endurance and my strength. This process repeated itself four times before he seemed to be satisfied. At this point we had gathered quite a crowd. Aragorn's skill was well known to the elves of the Golden Wood and to see what they thought of as a purely human female hold her own against him seemed to be fascinating to them. As we took a break I noticed that our audience was not completely elven. My eyes flickered over to our audience and then back to my father. One eyebrow quirked upwards at the sight but I didn't say anything. I sheathed my swords and rolled my shoulders out.

"You did well." Aragorn commented.

"I had good teachers." I replied.

"Still, all the training in the world can't make up for natural talent."

I smiled. "It's in the blood." That brought a quick smile to his face.

We walked back together to the edge of the court. Somehow the rest of the fellowship had gotten wind of our practice session and they were waiting.

"Did you tell them?" I asked.

"No, they must have heard from others, we did draw quite the crowd."

"Makes sense." I murmured. "This is going to be an interesting conversation."

As soon as we were in earshot the questions began.

"How did you do that?"

"Where did you learn how to do that?"

"Who taught you?"

The questions began to pile up and came so quickly that I couldn't even answer one before another was asked. They came from all directions so I didn't even know who to face to answer them.

"One at a time." I spoke laughing a little before I continued. "I learned over a long period of years. I had many teachers and I got good because I practiced - a lot. Any other questions?"

"Why were you practicing with Aragorn?" This from Boromir. He was still wary of me which was understandable. Before I could answer, someone else did it for me.

"I asked Aragorn to assess her skill level." Galadriel had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Why?" Boromir's reply was blunt. With one look the other elves surrounding us scattered, giving us privacy.

"Because with the death of Gandalf only eight of you remain and there must be nine. Addie will be the ninth and will journey with you once you leave the Golden Wood. I wanted to make sure that she was up to the task. After seeing her spar with Aragorn you cannot deny her skill."

"No." He said slowly, still seeming to be unconvinced.

"It is not coincidence that she is here now. She is meant to journey on with the fellowship."

I stayed silent while she spoke. Of course this would be so much easier if she could simply say that I was Aragorn's daughter from the future and needed to go with them. I let out a small involuntary sigh - she couldn't say that, so here we were.

At her statement that I was to continue on with the fellowship; I didn't miss Sam's appraising eye. Of course, he wanted to make sure that I wouldn't harm Frodo. His loyalty really was astounding.

Galadriel turned her gaze on me. "I realize that I have yet to ask you if you will join the fellowship Addie."

I smiled a little. "Since I have arrived here, my mind was made up to continue with them. There was no need to ask." Not that I really had a choice either way I added mentally. Her lips twitched upwards at my thought. She gave me a single nod before turning to face the rest of them.

"I suggest that Addie continues to train and to get to know each of you before she travels onward." Then she turned and glided away.

"Well lass." I heard a gruff voice say. Gimli; I would recognize his voice anywhere. "Welcome to the Fellowship of the Ring."

"Thank you." Immediately I was approached by Merry and Pippin.

"I don't suppose that you would teach us how to fight?" They said with hopeful grins.

"I could teach you a few things." I agreed, "But right now I would like to take a break, you know, count up all the new bruises I received." This earned me a laugh.

"Of course Addie."

I headed back to my rooms to stretch and then change. I didn't want my muscles to become stiff - you only make that mistake once. Training the next day would have been an absolute nightmare. I released my hair from its braid and settled on the edge of the bed with my head resting on my hands. It was going to be a long couple of months, longer still until I gained the trust of the entire fellowship and figured out how to act around my father.

**A/N Yay another chapter! Again this is setting up the rest of the story, expect it to pick up quicker in a few more chapters. As always, suggestions are appreciated, I want to know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

The days blurred together. I trained, I ate, I slept and slowly began to gain the trust of the other members of the fellowship. I took care with the words I spoke, and who I spoke them in earshot of. Still, I would occasionally catch Legolas giving me an odd look after I had said something or made a certain facial expression . He seemed to shake himself out of it and the familiar look of calm would settle across his features once again. I tried not to worry too much about him suspecting me; he would find out soon anyway.

Somehow I ended up having a conversation about ale with Gimli, Pippin, and Merry. I really was doomed from the start.

"But how can you not like it?" Pippin was baffled and Gimli grunted his agreement.

"I had a bad experience with it and it tastes and smells nasty." I wrinkled my nose at the thought of it. "It also makes perfectly normal people act like complete idiots and they usually end up regretting their actions the next day. I just don't see the appeal." I said with a shrug.

"But you will have some of the wine at the feast tomorrow, right?" Merry asked with a grin.

I shook my head. "I don't like any form of alcohol, I will happily be sticking to water."

"Sometimes I don't understand you, lass." Gimli muttered.

"Well then I'm doing something right; we females have to have be completely unfathomable to the opposite gender at least once in a while." I glanced up at the sky and realized that if I didn't leave now I would be late for my practice session.

"I have to go - practice session." I uncrossed my legs and stood up.

"Can we come?" This from both Pippin and Merry.

"Sure, why not?"

"Well then I'm coming too, no telling what trouble you three would get in to if you were left alone."

"Why Gimli, I don't know what you mean." I said with an innocent expression. I dusted the dirt off my breeches as we walked over to where I was to train. This time I had braided my hair and put it up in a bun, hoping it would stay up. I was busy in my thoughts and only caught the tail end of Pippen explaining to Gimli in a completely serious voice "… and that's why you don't sneak up on Addie when it looks like she's asleep."

I grinned and laughed. The look on his face had been priceless; I'm not the daughter of a Ranger for nothing after all. I was still laughing when I entered a more secluded corner of the training grounds to see my dad waiting for me. One eyebrow rose up at the sight of me laughing and Pippen with a completely serious expression on his face – usually it was the other way around.

"Warm up." He said simply. I did as I was told as I shook off my earlier merriment and _focused_. Not paying enough attention to what was going on had always ended with me disarmed and on the ground. It had been one of the earliest lessons I had learned as a child, that and how to properly hold a sword. I finished warming up and then the real work began. Pippen and Merry would call out encouragement and Gimli would occasionally spew out a few words of advice. For the most part I tried not to listen, I didn't want to get distracted. We finished the session with my muscles shaking and both of us out of breath.

"I am impressed Addie. Your reflexes have become faster and you trust your instincts more than you did when we first started. That being said, you also need to learn to have a little more patience." He told me quietly.

I let out a puff of breath. "I know I need to work on my patience, it's always been my biggest weakness."

He gave me a smile. "Recognizing that as a problem is a good start."

"I was much worse when I first started, waiting for the right moment to strike. I'm better at it now."

"I don't doubt it." His expression became more serious. "Lady Galadriel would like to speak with you after you have cleaned up."

"Did she mention what about?"

"No, but I'm sure you can guess."

I nodded. "I can indeed." I muttered. "I can indeed."

"We won't have a training session tomorrow because of the farewell feast. We will be leaving the day after. Make sure that you are packed and ready."

"Okay." I stepped away from him and started up the many, many, many stairs to get to my room. Now I have nothing against heights, I'm actually one of the few people who enjoys them, I just don't like all the stairs that are required to walk up. I scowled at the steps in front of me as I climbed up and up. Finally I reached the top and immediately went to my rooms to wash up. I kept my hair the same as I slipped into another dress, this time a dark blue with silver leaf embroidery on the sleeves. I put on the slippers that had been provided with the dress. Apparently there had been shoes provided for the violet dress but I just hadn't seen them. The maid who left clothes for me now made a pointed effort to leave shoes for me in a very prominent place. It grew more and more obvious with every day, I think she was having fun with it. With one last splash of water on my face, I went to meet with Galadriel.

I found her where we had eaten lunch my second day here. She was seated at the table wearing another white dress. She turned her head as I entered and gestured for me to sit across from her. I took my seat and waited for her to speak. She seemed to be studying me as she had the first day. I fought the urge to squirm as she continued to look at me in silence.

"_There are a few things we need to discuss. First, I and Elrond will be sending troops to aid the people of Rohan at Helm's Deep. I would be loath to lose my great-granddaughter and he his granddaughter so soon. The Rohiric people will need the help – they will be badly outnumbered but this you already know."_

"_Yes." _I admitted. Privately I was thinking that it made more sense now how Galadriel was able to convince Elrond to send a group of archers to help. Some of the things I had been told in stories were now beginning to make more sense.

"_Second I have had a few more breeches and tunics made in your size for your journey."_

"_Thank you for all the kindness you have shown me since I have arrived here."_

"_You are welcome Addie." _She sat back slightly in her chair to look at me again. "_You are aware that I will give gifts to each member of the fellowship?"_

"_Yes of course."_

"_Your gift will come in two parts. You will not receive the second part until the elven reinforcements get to Helm's Deep. You will not need it until then."_

She was being cryptic again. _"Is there anything else?"_

"_Do not loose heart, the smallest acts can cause great change."_

Okaaaaay.

"_I have taken the liberty of having a dress made for you for the festival."_

"_Thank you, I appreciate it."_

"_You will do well Addie, do not doubt yourself. Now I believe that you promised to judge an eating contest between the hobbits during lunch?"_

"_You are correct."_

"_Well then you better get going if you wish to be on time."_

I smiled at her, exited and climbed down the stairs, which was much faster than going up. I settled in my place at the head of the table, fixing each hobbit with a stern look as I said the rules.

"No stopping, no regurgitations. The first one to finish their plate of food wins." I said plate, but it didn't look like any other kind of plate I had seen before. Honestly it reminded me more of a shield.

"Ready? Go!" It truly was an amazing sight as I watched them put down food almost faster than I could keep track of. Merry ended up winning with Sam finishing close behind. I sat in awe as Sam demanded a rematch and the process repeated itself all over again. If I had eaten that much food I would have been sick.

After I had eaten myself; I was wandering around the forest when I ran into Boromir, not literally this time though. I apologized but he was giving me a stern look.

"Yes?"

"You are determined to go on with the Fellowship?"

"I am and nothing you could say or do will stop me."

"I did not think so, I have learned of your stubbornness over these two weeks, Lady Addie. I have also seen you practice with Aragorn. You are a worthy warrior but my conscious would not allow me to stand idle without making sure that you were determined to go. You remind me of someone I once knew." He trailed off here and seemed to be far away in his thoughts. He seemed to shake himself out of them and bid me good day before he went on his way.

I stood there blinking. That had been the strangest conversation that I had had with Boromir hands down. With a shrug I continued my aimless wandering thinking of home.

**A/N Merry Christmas Eve! Okay next chapter they are leaving the Golden Wood, promise. Thank you to all who have reviewed, I really appreciate it. I'm Glad that you guys are liking Addie's personality, I really try to make it realistic without being too Mary Sueish which was pointed out to me in an earlier review.**


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